Cambodia PM nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize after ceasefire
Five days of hostilities between Cambodia and Thailand killed at least 43 people last month as a territorial dispute boiled over
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1News
5 hours ago
- 1News
Feds will be out 24/7 on patrol in Washington DC, White House says
As a wary Washington waited, the White House promised a ramp-up of National Guard troops and federal officers on the streets of the nation's capital around the clock starting Thursday, days after President Donald Trump's unprecedented announcement that his administration would take over the city's police department for at least a month. The city's Democratic mayor walked a political tightrope, referring to the takeover as an 'authoritarian push' at one point and later framing the infusion of officers as boost to public safety, though one with few specific barometers for success. The Republican president has said crime in the city was at emergency levels that only such federal intervention could fix — even as District of Columbia leaders pointed to statistics showing violent crime at a 30-year low after a sharp rise two years ago. For two days, small groups of federal officers have been visible in scattered areas of the city. That is about to change, the administration says. () A 'significantly higher' presence of guard members was expected Wednesday night (local time), and federal agents will be out during the day as well as at night, according to the White House. Hundreds of federal law enforcement and city police officers who patrolled the streets Tuesday night (local time) made 43 arrests, compared with about two dozen the night before. ADVERTISEMENT In one neighbourhood, officers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI could be seen along with the US Park Police searching the car of a motorist parked just outside a legal parking area to eat takeout and drop off a friend. Two blocks away, US Customs and Border Protection officers gathered in a parking lot before driving off on patrol. Agents from various agencies including Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Park Police, and FBI, question a couple who had been parked outside a legal parking zone while eating McDonald's (Source: Associated Press) In other parts of the city, including those with popular nightlife hot spots, federal patrols were harder to find. At the National Mall, there was little law enforcement activity aside from Park Police cruisers pulling over a taxi driver near the Washington Monument. Unlike in other US states and cities, the law gives Trump the power to take over Washington's police for up to 30 days. Extending his power over the city for longer would require approval from Congress, and that could be tough in the face of Democratic resistance. Trump suggested Thursday that he could seek a longer period of control or decide to call on Congress to exercise authority over city laws his administration sees as lax on crime. 'We're gonna do this very quickly. But we're gonna want extensions. I don't want to call a national emergency. If I have to, I will,' he said. Targeting a variety of infractions Agents with US Customs and Border Protection as well as Metropolitan Police wait in a parking lot before driving along Kennedy Street NW in a caravan (Source: Associated Press) ADVERTISEMENT The arrests made by 1450 federal and local officers across the city included those for suspicion of driving under the influence and unlawful entry, as well as a warrant for assault with a deadly weapon, according to the White House. Seven illegal firearms were seized. There have now been more than 100 arrests since Trump began beefing up the federal law enforcement presence in Washington last week, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said. 'President Trump is delivering on his campaign promise to clean up this city and restore American Greatness to our cherished capital,' she said. The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including police fatally shoot a woman in Christchurch, sausages recalled over glass fears, and why McDonalds Japan isn't loving its customers right now (Source: 1News) The president has full command of the National Guard, but as of Tuesday evening (local time), guard members had yet to be assigned a specific mission, according to an official who was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. As many as 800 troops were expected to be mobilised in a support role to law enforcement, though exactly what form remains to be determined. The push also includes clearing out encampments for people who are homeless, Trump has said. US Park Police have removed dozens of tents since March, and plan to take out two more this week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said. People are offered the chance to go to shelters and get addiction treatment, if needed, but those who refuse could be fined or jailed, she said. City officials said they are making more shelter space available and increasing their outreach. Violent crime has dropped in the district ADVERTISEMENT Vehicles with law enforcement agents from the US Customs and Border Protection as well as Metropolitan Police drive along Kennedy Street NW (Source: Associated Press) The federal effort comes even after a drop in violent crime in the nation's capital, a trend that experts have seen in cities across the US since an increase during the coronavirus pandemic. On average, the level of violence in Washington remains mostly higher than averages in three dozen cities analysed by the nonprofit Council on Criminal Justice, said the group's president and CEO, Adam Gelb. Police Chief Pamela Smith said during an interview with the local Fox affiliate that the city's Metro Police Department has been down nearly 800 officers. She said the increased number of federal agents on the streets would help fill that gap, at least for now. Mayor Muriel Bowser said city officials did not get any specific goals for the surge during a meeting with Trump's attorney general, Pam Bondi, and other top federal law enforcement officials. But, she said, "I think they regard it as a success to have more presence and take more guns off the street, and we do too.' Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks during a news conference on President Donald Trump's plan to place Washington police under federal control and deploy National guard troops to Washington. (Source: Associated Press) She had previously called Trump's moves 'unsettling and unprecedented' while pointing out he was within a president's legal rights regarding the district, which is the seat of American government, but is not a state. For some residents, the increased presence of law enforcement and National Guard troops is nerve-racking. 'I've seen them right here at the subway ... they had my street where I live at blocked off yesterday, actually,' Washington native Sheina Taylor said. 'It's more fearful now because even though you're a law-abiding citizen, here in DC, you don't know, especially because I'm African American."
NZ Herald
14 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Europeans, Zelenskyy try to keep Trump on board ahead of Putin summit
European leaders today implored United States President Donald Trump to keep one key point in mind when he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. They said the US cannot - must not - negotiate away Ukrainian territory, especially for nothing in return. As Trump floats 'land swaps', Kyiv's
RNZ News
16 hours ago
- RNZ News
How Putin has used flattery and deception to 'fool' five US presidents
By John Lyons , ABC US President Donald Trump and President of Russia Vladimir Putin during the joint news conference following their meeting in Helsinki in 2018. Photo: AFP / Sergey Guneev / Sputnik Analysis: Vladimir Putin has won both the physical war against Ukraine and the psychological war against Donald Trump. So far, at least. Only a year ago, the United States was urging countries around the world to arrest the Russian president should he touch down on their soil. Then-US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, called on the 123 states that are signatories the International Criminal Court (ICC) to arrest Putin for the alleged war crime of illegally deporting children from Ukraine to Crimea or Russia. Then-US president Joe Biden supported the ICC arrest warrant, declaring Putin to be guilty. What a difference a year and a new president make. Now, rather than facing an arrest warrant, Putin is about to be feted on American soil, given equal status at a summit in Alaska with Trump. Putin will be a guest of the US, and the photos that emerge from the meeting will be used by Russia's state media to argue that Putin was right to invade Ukraine. Vladimir Putin is a master of mind games who learnt his craft in the ruthless culture of the KGB. Photo: AFP / RAMIL SITDIKOV The Russian propaganda line is already that this summit has proved Putin is not the war criminal that the Biden administration tried to portray. Instead, he is a welcome guest of Trump. Putin, this master of mind games who learnt his craft in the ruthless culture of the KGB, has manipulated yet another US president. In the world of diplomacy, Putin has won as he's back in from the cold. When European leaders continue to urge sanctions against him, Trump has invited him back to the US. And on the battlefield, Putin will have won the war if by invading Ukraine and killing civilians for more than two years, he ends up with almost 20 percent of Ukraine. In the lead-up to the summit, Trump has talked about the need to "swap" land . What's there for Ukraine to swap? It's lost about 20 percent of its land to Russia as it slowly loses the war. Even up until the days before the summit was set to begin, Russia was taking small pockets in the east of Ukraine. Now Putin gets a prize - a summit that catapults him back onto the world stage. For the past two years, most world leaders have treated him as a pariah for illegally invading another country. For Trump - who these days clearly enjoys questions from some of the fawning members of the US media about whether he would accept a Nobel Peace Prize - it is a photo opportunity with a man for whom he has an unexplained fascination and admiration. The Nobel narrative never mentions that it is only with Trump's endorsement that unspeakable suffering, trauma and starvation is being committed by Israel in Gaza, often with US bombs. And while Putin and Trump both carve out for themselves some winnings from the injustice inflicted upon Ukraine, Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and the people of Ukraine lose - their country has shrunk as a result of Russia's military might and violence. While there can be no real victory out of this summit for Ukraine, Ukrainians are fatigued and traumatised - they have been losing this war slowly. The only consolation to any end to the war will be that their young men and women will no longer be dying in the frozen fields of the front line and they can slowly try to rebuild a shattered economy and country. Firefighters work on a fire following a mass Russian drone and missile attack on Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, on 4 July 2025. Photo: Handout / State Emergency Service of Ukraine / AFP Unless Putin decides he wants more and his army returns. The biggest winner, of course, is set to be Putin. During his years in the KGB, one of the specialties of Lieutenant Colonel Putin was personality profiling - before recruiting someone, Putin needed to understand their motivations and their vulnerabilities. He appears to have identified a weakness in Trump: the need to be at the centre of the world stage. Trump clearly revels in the big events, being at the centre of international attention. And so Putin - who daily orders the killing of Ukrainian civilians with his missiles and drones - is set to join Trump for yet another photo opportunity summit. This is classic Putin. He's manipulated or treated with contempt five US presidents - Bill Clinton, George W Bush, Barack Obama, Trump and Joe Biden. Now he has a second look at Trump. Each US president has come to power convinced that they could develop a working relationship with Putin - that they could trust him and work with him. The most dramatic example was Bush, who invited Putin to his ranch in Crawford, Texas, in 2001. It seems almost incomprehensible today, given the tensions and suspicion between Washington and Moscow, but Putin spent the night at the Bush ranch. The next morning, they visited Crawford High School - an unforgettable memory for the students of this small-town US school. Standing alongside the Russian leader, Bush told the student assembly about the evening the two had just spent together: "We had a little Texas barbecue, pecan pie, a little Texas music." Bush's assessment of his fellow president after their first face-to-face meeting was glowing. "I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. We had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul." Many Russians were mystified, even amused, by this assessment. As Russian journalist Yevgenia Albats later told PBS's Frontline programme: "He [Putin] was trained not to reveal his, so to say, soul, if he has any. His life experience didn't allow him to reveal any inner him, any true him, to any representative of the West. [The] West, for him, remains to be the enemy. And the United States, as the leader of the West, is the enemy number one." It did not take long for Bush to become disenchanted. Despite Bush's urging, Putin made clear he had ambitions to invade both Georgia and Ukraine. Soon after, he invaded Georgia. Bush would be outraged some time later when Putin leant over to him at one of their meetings and said under his breath: "Ukraine is not a real country." The bitter breakdown in the Bush-Putin relationship was on display at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Frontline reported that the two had a hostile conversation as they sat watching the Olympics and Bush would later tell his staff: "You know, I don't know how, but we've lost him." Photo: AFP PHOTO / POOL / JORGE SILVA In recent weeks, as he too has been "losing" Putin, Trump has tried to turn up the financial pressure on Russia. He's been doing this by threatening tariffs on those who buy goods from Russia - India being his first big target . He is planning to impose an additional 25 percent tariff on all goods from India entering the US - taking India's tariff to 50 percent. This has been imposed because India has continued to buy oil from Russia. Trump goes into this Alaska meeting knowing how good Putin is at mind games and strategy. He's observed himself how Putin has "fooled" many of his predecessors, and has talked about how he can have what appear to be constructive conversations with Putin about Ukraine and only hours later Putin's forces will pound targets inside Ukraine. "After that happens three or four times, you say that talk doesn't mean anything," he says. "My conversations with him are always very pleasant - they're very lovely conversations and then the missiles go off that night. I go home, I tell the First Lady: 'I spoke to Vladimir today, we had a wonderful conversation', and she says: 'Oh really, another city (in Ukraine) was just hit.' I don't want to say he's an assassin, but he's a tough guy. It's been proven over the years - he's fooled a lot of people. He fooled Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden. He didn't fool me but what I do say is that at a certain point ultimately talk doesn't talk, there's got to be action. There's got to be results." Having laid out the long list of US presidents who have been fooled, the question is whether Trump is about to cement his place alongside them. -ABC
